drove from new orleans with friends,19 years old,took blotter on colored construction paper. got a spot real close stage left,GA . i remember this bobby/donna thing being strange,during looks like rain they had this trip happening..then the deal was real unusual, real ad libbed feeeling at the end,i thought the set was over,but no...musta been the doses,,,,well,then they did that,hah,,,the set had a real kinda lovey dovey vibe,song selection...phil was on a mission to destroy,dropping bombs and being forceful,probably cus hes was pissed at keith nodding out,which he was i think,lazy lightning was hot,still i noticed the bobby/donna vibe mostly.not sure if they were fighting or what...i think billy was yelling stuff at bobby too....after listening to the first set now, i can hear these things ,but it sounds GREAT,now,hah....second set, another goof on the end of samson,and more yelling,were dosed going"WTF is going on"lol..scarlet/fire then arrived, i remember being bummed cuz they played that at the last show i went to,whiner....then next thing i remember was a weird space then SUGAR MAG ,what huh??yup ,that was weird, at this point we were like this is weird(tripping of course). then one more sat night with bobby throwing his hands at the audience as if to say "we give up,this sucks" or something like that....lol,....sounds pretty friggin good 38 years later,hahahaha, back in those days you could get real close in odd places like jacksonville,good times :)

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for these pre-Egypt '78 shows. It seems to me that the band was experimenting a bit more than they did for the always-tight-but-somewhat-scripted shws of 1977.
The first set is pretty much mailed in, although it does feature a fantastic Lightnin'>Supplication, which finds Phil really going all out. The second set is pretty much perfect, with one of my favorite Scarlet>Fires -- although, let's face it....they were all great by this point. But Jerry really seems to be branching out here, and is definitely emoting more than usual on his solo in "Fire on the Mountain".
Soundwise, there is a bit of a distant feeling to this recording, despite the fact that it comes from the board. Everything seems a bit turned down, although Phil is nice and up front, where his playing can really shine. Overall, a highly recommeded recording.

I'm listening to, and saving, the second set based on the positive reviews here, and it is well worth it. After having visited almost everything from 77 I kept right on going into 78 to determine when that 77 magic stopped - haven't got there yet. The early 78 shows are proving to be a great combination of spring 77 smoothness, fall 77 hard rock and some pretty heavy Garcia explorations. I'm liking this a lot. It's different.It's worth you time to stream or save the second set.

I've just started listening to this, but it's quickly working it's magic on me. Killer Half-Step opener with Jerry delivering a great solo. Then it's MAMU with Phil's bass coming in loud and clear (I hate it when Phil is buried somewhere back in the soundscape).
I'd argue that the sound quality is as good as a top-flight Dick's Picks.
I have to comment on Donna, the woman people love to bash. Yea, at the start of her tenure with the band she was sometimes all over the map screeching and hitting the wrong notes. By this date her singing is heavenly. She really is a great back-up singer, adding such sweet tones. Her harmonizing with Bobby on Looks Like Rain kills me.

I was listening to Scarlet pouring gently into Fire, the bouncy Eyes, the *freakin perfect* Prophet, and my eyes filled with tears, my mind with memories...but how? It was my 1st time listening to this show.
What surprises me is how controversial the reviews are. Even Capt. Doubledose, a reviewer whom I have loved for his highlights of tons of underrated shows, seems to miss the magic.
There is a very human yet spiritual sensitivity in Jerry's second set riffs that is extremely rare for anything post-77, except maybe the 1980 acoustics. Though experimental and necessarily imperfect, it's very loving...
In any case, this show is a keeper. For the best and smoothest sound, though, you should head to etree and download Charlie Miller's latest FLAC update of this show.

perfection... rip jerry

Big river sweet!

If you can find the upgrade from Charlie Miller floating around, you need to grab this show.
I'm finding more and more that April of 1978 was a fantastic month/year for the boys--not at the level of May 1977, but a notch below that is still miles ahead of many others.
This show features an outstanding HALF STEP opener, a solid if unspectacular first set, but a genius 2nd set that includes an amazingly under-the-radar SCARLET>FIRE that is just brilliant...Jerry guides the Scarlet with strong vocals and a killer jam into the "willows" verse, then the band lays back a bit transitioning into Fire, but in a gorgeous, mesmerizing fashion that slowly builds to a highly concentrated jam...the Fire that follows is a winner.
Follow THAT with a very similar ESTIMATED>EYES pairing--again, focused jamming interspersed with beautiful, floating sections--and a monster SUGARMAG to close...yeah, it seems like a short set, but given what they do before the Mag closer, it really isn't.
Oh, and did I mention a terrific, blazing LIGHTNING>SUPPLICATION?
This is a great, underrated show that needs more love!

Some good and some mediocre here, but check it out for yourself. Betty did her job but there were a few sound anomalies during the show.
BTW, gratefuly deadicated, ALL CAPS is BAD, your review is not a review and your advice is worthless. Why would anyone want to go to all that trouble to re-convert to analog what is already a perfectly good digital MP3 file?

OK TO ALL !!! ALL YOU HAVE TO GET THESE SOUNDBOARDS IS HOOK UP YOUR RADIO/TAPE DECK TO YOUR COMPUTER AND RECORD THE SHOW WHILE ITS PLAYING !!ALL YOU NEED TO DO THIS IS A MIC TO AUDIO CABLE OR A HEADPHONE TO AUDIO CABLE. EASY AS CAN BE !! THEN YOU CAN GET A PROGRAM TO RECORD THE PLAYBACK OF THE TAPE THROUGH YOUR MIC INPUT ON YOUR COMPUTER AND THEN YOU CAN SPLIT THE SONGS YOURSELF AND THEN BURN THEM TO A CD!! HAHA I SUGGEST SOUND FORGE 7.0 OR LOWER TO DO THIS, IF YOU NEED THE PROGRAM CONTACT ME AND I'LL GET IT TO YOU !!!
GRATEFULDEAD2777@SBCGLOBAL.NET
THIS IS STILL BETTER THAN THE OLD DAYS WHEN YOU COULDN'T EVEN FIND TAPERS OR ANYONE WITH TAPES, SPREAD THE WORD !!! SEEMS TO ME THAT PEOPLE ARE GETTING A LITTLE SPOILED AROUND HERE, FORGOTTON ABOUT THERE ROOTS !!!

I think it's a great show, all around.
great for '78.
great for any year.
hot scarlet>fire>estimated>eyes
yup.
pick this one up.
-Ben

I've always thought this show was underrated despite the afformentioned little vocal flubs and miscues and stuff. There is a very mellow, laid back vibe to the show. Jerry in particular seems way spacier than normal at that time. The recording quality isn't as good as the other betty boards for sure(there is some funky noises coming out of the speakers during the scarlet jam) but still not bad at all with Phil particularly funky in the mix. The band is playing very strong right from the start, the half step opener is still one of my all time favorite versions. The rest of the set bubbles along nicely and is quite pleasant even though none of the tunes reaches the heights set by the awesome opener. The entire 2nd set is wonderful, the scarlet>fire just plain smokes, I don't think that some of these reviews do justice to just how good this scarlet>fire really is. This version is just really out there, like the last reviewer stated, there are some very unique melodies that I haven't heard in other versions. The jam into fire gives me goosebumps and I still believe that the fire on the mountain is one of the all time funkiest version with Jerry hitting some very awkward yet cool notes with his mutron, not the longest version but something about it makes it one of my all time favorites. In fact, this particular fire on the mountain was my first exposure to this show when I heard it on grateful dead hour in 1988 or 89. It was the first live fire on the mountain I heard being a newbie back then yet it still has this effect on me so many years later! The rest of the show is strong as well, the estimated again is very powerful, with Jerry's mutron in full effect once again, stellar version. The eyes is nice and mellow(there is a slight cut in the 1st verse) and the drums>space is pretty nice as well with another close encounters themed space that goes right into sugar mags. Only one song after space, but this version of sugar mag is one of my all time favorites and is a real smoker. The same can be said about the Sat night encore, all in all this was a great show. I wasn't surprised when Dick Latvala wanted to release this show, unfortunately probably because of the recording quality and the overall raggedness it just didn't get the thumbs up. But this show seriously needs to be re-evaluated so I highly recommend downloading it!

Yes I agree there are a bunch of glitches to this show. I did however think that it was a pretty good show. I thought some of the melodies were definately interesting and worth checking out.

But this is riddled with miscues & mistakes, is short and weak relative to others from '78. I experienced some tech glitches as well... It just seems everyone is pulling in a different direction and Garcia is mildy aware of it.

Interesting what time does to perspective. This was my last Grateful Dead show, because I was so disappointed in it. I felt it was lackluster. Jerry missed several cues, and only a few high points of th e night. I had taken a friend who had never seen them before, and I thought he was going to be blown away. Coming back after, he thought it was a pretty good show, I was just disappointed. Now almost 30 years later I hear the show again, and have the same kind of feelings. In some ways, the start of a long decline in Jerry's playing. At some points (like the Estimated), a very strong show. The rest of the band sound good, but very little creativity here.

The second set is one of the greatest sets of Rock and Roll I have ever heard!!! I have listened to hundreds of these this year. Download and burn this now. All of Scarlet Begonias on fits on one disc. You will not believe this outrage. Thank You Internet Archives.

Close Encounters>Sugar Magnolia
The show sounds great so decide for your self.
I had this one on tape years ago and I'm glad its back in my collection.

Not the typical killer Betty-Board because it has a distant arena quality to it. This has its pros and cons. The pro is on the Estimated Jam. The band simply pins the needle on this one. One of the best I have EVER heard. The Estimated gets a 5.

OK, it's not the greatest sounding board, but Set 2 smokes! Scarlet>Fire>Estimated>Eyes is the pinnacle of any post-1977 show and this one is a keeper. Scarlet melts slowly here and then after some noodling, Jerry catches "Fire". He blazes away on all 3 solos and doesn't miss a beat as they segue into Estimated. The persian-laced Estimated jam is awesome.....then Jerry finds those magical chords of Eyes with the help of Keith (of course)

classic show from start to finish...the whole band is on track and rearing to go. Phil is on fire, from the middle of the first set on he is playing powerful bass lines which peaks with a fine version of Samson.
definitly check this one out.

For the SBD quality, I'd give this a four. Phil's bass at the start of Scarlet is severely muted, as if he's plucking cat gut. Garcia takes his typical three turns, each pleasant, with some melody to his madness. The jam is mostly a quiet one. At about 11:40, he steps on the wah, and plays the little Fire intro (always sounded to me reminiscent of the Midnight Cowboy theme). At the last byte of Scarlet (13:52) he starts in on the first sung verse. A decent enough Fire....
Estimated is pretty good, a flatter more muted "wah" from Jerry than, say, Spring '77, but the jam is long and winding, with some very fluent, articulate runs, and a starry night kind of feeling. Unfortunately, the handoff into Eyes is not fluid; Garcia simply stops what he was doing and begins brushing the Eyes chords.
The Drums/Space is 17 minutes. At the 11 minute mark, Halloween begins....Jerry does indeed noodle a few round, wah'd notes reminiscent of Space from 1-22-78 and thereabouts. And at 16:35 he does play Close Encounters, twice, faintly; Lesh dances a few notes around it. Then Weir slides into Magnolia....This one is a little too plodding to begin. Jerry starts late on both his breaks. The jam gets off to a disjointed start, so the drummers try to bash a little energy into it. All of them end up trying to throw the kitchen sink into it, but it kind of feels like a sloshy goulash, not a freight train. Contrast this with three nights later, where Garcia seems to have some definite melodic ideas/feelings he wants to communicate. An energetic finish with Donna, and Weir doing a little scatting.